Chapter 1 : Before death
A school bus filled with students from a nearby school, drove on the open road quite fast. The bus driver had been stuck in traffic, thus making it almost twenty minutes late from all of its stops.
The Bus driver was a man in his early fifties was known ( at least for himself) to do his job just as everybody wanted him to do. He was never late, nor was he early. He came just precisely when he had to. He turned in his papers just when it was needed, and always satisfied the passengers by being right on time.
But not today, today his usual stern face was dripping with sweat as some nearby passengers were complaining loudly about his delay. Others were complaining about how he drove; he had been driving faster by each stop. It was a desperate attempt for him to actually be on the next stops on time.
"Hey! You missed one!"
The driver looked confused, but quickly understood what the passenger meant. He had forgot to make a stop. He cursed under his breath as he took quickly looked on his side mirrors, there was on person by the stop looking after them.
Realizing that he couldn't go back, he stopped the bus with some distance in front of him and opened the doors. some people went off the bus, mainly the students who was probably going to catch another buss instead of the one which had a driver that was driving like a madman.
He sighed quietly as he was waiting for the passenger behind to enter the bus. This had to be the worst day on job in years. Sure. He wasn't used to get any promotions on his job. It wasn't really a surprise. By doing all that was needed, he didn't really pass anyone's expectations
But after today, he wondered if he would get any demotion. It wouldn't be surprising. In the eyes of his employers he was an old quiet employee with no records except for that one time where he was ten minutes late for every stop…
"Ah… Excuse me sir?" The driver turned his head towards a pale teenager. From the color on his clothes, the driver quickly recognized him as the man from before. Except that he really was a teenager. He was tall and somewhat thin. The boy was wearing a dark brown jacket that was completely zipped up to his throat and some black stainless jeans. It would look quite normal if it wasn't for the fact that the said person was also wearing black huge sunglasses, making it unable to see his eyes. and brown beanie that covered every inch of his hair.
What is he hiding? It was his job to be a bit careful with what kind of passengers he let on aboard. If they were suspicious for him, he would keep an eye on them until they stepped out of the bus. What could he say? Better being safe than sorry.
" I was wondering why the ticket thingy isn't working…?" The bus driver snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at the small ticket machine the boy was impatiently tapping. It was an old model of the classic ticket machine. Being this old, it wouldn't be surprising if the tapping was ruining it. He sighed quietly. Maybe the boy was a foreigner. He did have some sort of a accent in his voice.
" You're pushing the wrong button." he pointed at the button above the place he had been tapping. He tried to push away the boy's hand in the progress, to make sure he didn't make any more damage to the small machine." That's where you press before the ticket comes out,"
The boy slowly pressed the button before the ticket came out. He then again took his time before grabbing his ticket and examining it carefully. The bus driver felt himself getting irritated by each minute he was with the boy. He was already late, so why would God send him something that would slow him even more down?
The teenager turned his head towards the bus driver. His hands was still above his chest as he kept fiddling with bus ticket. It was as if he was playing an invisible video game. He smiled a knowing smile before talking in an amused tone. "Having a hard day, sir? "
If this boy wasn't a passenger, I would teach him some manners!
"No," He jerked his head away from the boy's direction and focused on the road. " Please go your seat. "
Despite the sun glasses the boy was wearing, he could feel him staring at him for some seconds before walking away.
He felt relieved as he started the gears. The weird people now days… These kind of teenagers should be disciplined from the day they were born!
He could hear a high pitched laughter from behind. It was one of the older students talking in a phone. It surprised him that she didn't mind the whole ride, considering the fact that most of her class mates had left the bus for that.
The bus looked almost empty since last stop. He couldn't help but feeling a bit sad. Over 10 years as a bus driver and he can still manage to cause a situation like this. Now there was around five passengers than his usually amount of forty. It was a depressing sight.
" Hey, are we going yet?" The voice belonged to a tall, well-dressed man in the middle of his thirties. " I have a meeting to attend to! " The man pointed at his wrist where an expensive watch was.
He watched his own clock and felt himself stress even more. The digital clock was quietly showing numbers which sent shivers to his spine. 15:15. He had just wasted even more time. This time, he didn't hesitate a bit when he pushed down pedals. It would probably be okay if he just sped up a little bit…
" Yes sir, We'll take off now." The man nodded quietly before putting down his black suit case. If he was from a high class, why not just call a taxi or something? Nevertheless, the driver sighed and started to drive.
He made his way back to the road as he drove in a higher speed than normal, if he was fast enough he could reach the station in time.
He could imagine what the other drivers would say. They would tell him that speeding up was not good for the passengers and that he was crazy for even doing it. The driver let out a inaudible snort. That's what the other employees would say. The employer on the other hand…
The driver was in deep thought as he almost forgot to stop on red light. He quickly stopped the car as soon as he noticed, making the buss do a unexpected jump.
" Hey be careful would you..? " The bored, yet irritated voice came from none other than the suspicious boy from before. The driver glanced at the boy, who was previously staring out of the window from his seat, now lying on the back on the bus floor trying to stand up. " Do you want to hurt the passengers?" His voice was calm as he stood up, and started dusting himself furiously. The whole process reminded the driver of his grandchildren when he told them there was insect on their shirt.
" Hey, Where are they? " The question confused the driver. This time he turned around completely to see the boy scanning the bus around wildly. " I'm sure there was a some people here."
The scene took the driver by surprise. Except for the boy and himself, the bus was completely empty. He was sure that there was some people left after last stop. How in the world was it empty?!
He tried to speak. He wanted to give him a proper explanation for this. He wanted to say that they had stepped out with the others, but even he knew there were some people who had stayed in the bus.
The older schoolgirl were nowhere to be seen. And so was the well-dressed man from before. It was as if they both had vanished into thin air while he was driving.
" Hey… isn't this cell phone..? " The boy's voice trailed off and he could hear the boy walk over to the end of the bus. He pulled up a small red object. " I-it can't be…"
The driver was confused over the boy's sudden shock. He had expected it to come earlier when the two of them had noticed the lack of his passengers, but here he was. Holding a small red cell phone with shaking hands, as if it had been some sort of a murder weapon.
" It's just a cellphone boy. Right now let's focus on something mor-" He stopped as a familiar object met his eyes. On the ground was a black suite case. It was on the same place the well-dressed man from before had been. The object was the same, the position was the same, but only with one difference.
It was stained in blood.
His breathing started to become uneven. The blood was without a doubt, fresh. Though the driver had never seen blood on objects, he could smell it.
He looked over to the boy who had picked up other things from the other passengers that had been sitting there. All of them had in some way been covered in blood.
" Don't touch them boy! W-we could give them later the police!" His voice sounded like a half strangled cat, but he managed to speak anyway. The boy nodded as put the remaining objects on a seat.
The only thing the driver was worrying about now, was the fact that he couldn't explain what happened. One minute they were there. And in the other they were gone! And the bloody objects… how is this even possible?
He must have been in shock, because the next thing he knew. He could hear a lot of people scream at him. Cars was repeatedly honking. His hands started to shake as he quickly grabbed the wheel. He had forgotten about the red light. It was probably green now.
He continued to drive normally, though inside he was petrified. How could 5 passengers disappear in thin air? That's not even possible!
And not only that, the only one who didn't disappear was the driver himself and the boy.
Speaking of the boy…
He glanced in the mirror to see the boy looking through a bag which he presumed was his. The driver tried to see what he was up to while focusing on the driveway. The driver wasn't sure what to do. Should he call the police at once? Or maybe he's just crazy… Who knows. The police might not even believe him and tell him he's too old for the job.
What am I going to say? That there was passengers that just suddenly disappeared from the bus and left bloody objects? Oh yes, it's quite believable.
He heard some footsteps in the back and looked on the mirror to see a disturbing scene. The boy was now crawling on the floor frantically peeking his head under the seats. At first, the driver tried to ignore it as he thought about what to do. Though, his patience started to wear off. Every time the bus would make a unexpected turn, the boy would hit his head under the seat and curse under his breath. The driver couldn't keep it in anymore. He coughed to get the boys attention.
"What are you doing boy?" He waited for the boy to tell him, but the boy rubbed his head and dived under another seat. The driver was losing his patience. Here they were. In what people would usually call a murder scene and the boy was ignoring him! " Hey! Boy! "
Minutes passed and the boy kept his head under the seat. The driver sighed as he kept his hands on the wheel. He had made up his mind. He would call the police, and try to figure this out. It wouldn't make sense if he DIDN'T call them.
He looked through his pockets to get his old cell phone, sure it was old, but it worked perfectly fine. And it wasn't as advanced as the cellphones kids use today. He let out a sigh as he thought about the time his daughter had bought him a IPhone 3 to keep him updated with the " Modern world" He couldn't figure out how to make a call even after three weeks. Luckily, his daughter understood and bought him an old, yet a nice black cell phone.
" I guess dinosaurs like you need to live in the past, right dad?"
He pushed the warm thought out of his mind as he tried to focus on much more important matters. Finally, he found the small black phone he had and quickly dialed the police. He pressed the mobile against his ear and waited for them to pick up.
Just tell them everything that happened, and they'll tell you to either drive to the station or stop right where you are.
He looked on the digital clock. It was shining brightly as it showed the numbers 15:36. It had barely been 20 minutes since the last time he talked to his passengers.
He heard someone pick up the phone the other end and a feminine voice greeted him.
"Hello, you have reached the police station,"
His felt himself getting relieved. Now everything would be sorted out. Some logical explanation would be given to him. He would look back today and laugh at how much he stressed.
"Hello? Is anybody there?"
He smiled before answering the voice. He had been lost in his thoughts quite much lately.
" Hello? I am a driver for the public bus. I-I would like to report some disappearance," He wasn't sure what else he could call it. It wasn't exactly a kidnapping now, was it?
" What's your name sir?"
A weird sound could be heard from the behind. The driver didn't notice as he continues.
" Please send the police as fast as you can. I am at the local mall near-"
This time, sounds of bones cracking with a hoarse gasp could be heard.
"Sir, Please state your name. We'll send help as fast as possible."
The driver knew the woman couldn't see him, but nodded in the phone anyway. Slow steps could be heard behind him, he presumed it was the boy.
" My name is- "
He dropped the phone out of shock as somebody grabbed his shoulder. The phone hit the bus floor without breaking. This somewhat comforted the driver, he was about to pick it up before a black boot came from behind and crushed the phone.
The driver froze. He knew it was the boy holding him. He knew it was the boy crushing the phone.
Forcing himself to turn around he was met with a terrifying sight. The boy was holding a small black object. He couldn't see the whole object, but he could see the bloody sharp end pointing out.
The boy looked at him. Or at least he thought. The sun glasses was still covering his eyes. He stepped forward. His body was shaking uncontrollably.
He knew it was the boy holding a knife towards him.
He just didn't want to believe it
The boy was muttering something. Even though he said it calmly, the driver couldn't figure out what he said.
The boy took a step forward. The knife came closer to the driver.
Without a chance to pray to God, the boy lunged forward. Stabbing him in the chest.
The pain was almost unbearable, even if the situation was clear, he wasn't ready for the pain. He gasped, he wanted to scream so badly, but no words came out. It felt as if the boy had ripped his chest open.
He forced himself to breath. He could live.. He could survive if he just focused!
Though all hope seemed to be lost as the boy stretched his arm towards the weapon. If he pulled it out, he would die after some seconds.
Surprisingly he stopped for a second before muttering something. And this time, he heard it.
He removed the knife quickly before he pointed it at his own chest.
The driver felt his eyelids close, breathing was quickly becoming even more heavy for him. His life felt uncompleted, as if he was missing something. He wanted to die a peaceful death. Where he would hear his wife and children and his grandchildren bid him farewell.
He tried to breath, but even he knew it was pointless. His vision became blurry as he tried to imagine his wife beside him, bidding him farewell.
What a nice fantasy.
He heard a gasp from the boy, and he now knew that the boy had kept his word.
The last thing I heard, was my murderer committing suicide .
" Hey don't go to close to the rails! "
The person turned their head towards the source of the voice. A tall figure could be seen waving at the person who was too close to the rails. The person laughed at the other person and waved back at him merrily . As if to say "No worries,".
The tall figure seemed to be nodding. He walked back in the other direction leaving the person behind. The whole scene was unclear, as if the face of each person was gone. Not only that, the whole scene had many parts covered in mist. But there was one clear thing.
The person was standing by the edge towards the train rails.
It seemed like forever before the train finally arrived. The person didn't move yet, again a unclear figure came to the person and said that " They had to be careful". And yet again the faceless person waved to show that everything was under control. The train went on. The person by the rail stood there unmoving and quiet.
After some time, a speaker could be heard. Echoing loudly to what seemed to be the platform covered in mist. It announced that a passing train would come soon.
As if on cue, a train could be heard beyond the mist. The person obviously noticed this and took some steps backwards.
The train came passing in full speed. And then something unexpected happened.
Just as the train was about to pass, the boy leapt forward and jumped on the rails. A sudden pain hit him. And darkness seemed to consume him. The pain didn't leave just yet. It lingered on as if to punish him for the whole event. He couldn't make a sound, but obviously the people around him could scream.
He opened his mouth. And he prepared himself to let go of his pain.
A scream could be heard as the boy woke up in a white room.
AN: This is my first story! it's OC centric, but I of course Katekyo Hitman Reborn will play a big part in it! I hope you liked the chapter! Please leave a review I would love to hear what you thought. And yes, unfortunately chapter: 0 doesn't have so much to do with the rest of the story. I guess it was more like a pilot chapter. I just didn't have the heart too delete it… hehe…
But maybe you will notice some similarities between chapter 0 and the rest of the story.
I used a long time to finish this chapter, mainly because I was focused on my studies and finishing Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. I prefer the older games, but I would lie if I said that it was a bad game.
Anyway, the next chapter will hopefully be longer ( and better ) but I'll try my best to update as soon as I can!
Forgive me if I have any spelling mistakes or bad grammar. I'll try to fix my mistakes as fast as possible. I should get a Beta reader though..